The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical cables that provide shielding around signal conductors.
Electrical cables are used in high-speed data transmission applications, such as for high definition video transmission. For example, electrical cables may be used in a video endoscope device for video endoscopy. Some electrical cables use twisted pairs for high speed digital signal propagation. For quality signal integrity, the signal path needs adequate bandwidth as higher bandwidth allows for faster data rates. In some applications, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and/or radio frequency interference (RFI) are concerns so the electrical cables are shielded to protect against interference from environmental sources of EMI/RFI. However, in shielded twisted pair designs, the shield often limits the performance of the electrical cable as the shield in general degrades the bandwidth of the supported signal by introducing additional attenuation.
To reduce the negative impact of the shield on the signal transmission, some cable designs increase the thickness of the insulator surrounding the signal conductors. However, increasing the thickness of the insulator increases the overall diameter of the cable. Additionally, the material of the insulator may be relatively rigid, making the cable less flexible as the thickness of the insulator is increased.
A need remains for an electrical cable having improved mechanical and electrical performance.